Easter Egg Decorating: Marbling with Nail Polish

Nail polish marbling has been something I have wanted to try for the longest time and when I was thinking about how we would decorate some eggs this Easter I had an Aha! lets-give-it-a-try moment. I can’t tell you how much I love the results!

How to Marble with Nail Polish

The technique is really simple and all you really need it nail polish, water and whatever it is that you plan to marble. I think it’s a great way to get older children involved with decorating eggs.

How to Marble with Nail Polish

So here’s how we did it…

You will need:

  • Eggs – we used wooden eggs
  • Non-water soluble acrylic craft paint
  • Nail polish in your chosen colours – try to stay away from the quick dry formulas
  • Water
  • A bamboo skewer or toothpick
  • A container deep enough to completely submerge your egg or other object
  • Tongs (that will not be used again for food preparation or serving) or plastic gloves
  • An egg carton or baking paper (see notes below)

To make:

Be sure to use this technique in a well ventilated area. Nail polish is stinky stuff.

1. If using wooden eggs, paint eggs with the acrylic craft paint to act as a protective barrier in the water. I used a metallic silver as I thought it would look really effective with the nail polish colours we were using. Let paint dry completely.

2. Fill your container with water deep enough to submerge your egg.

3. Slowly pour nail polish onto the water, one colour at a time. Some of the nail polish may sink to the bottom (image top left).

4. Swirl the skewer through the paint to create a marbled effect (image top right).

Nail polish marbling tutorial

5. Submerge your egg into the water. We held our egg from end to end with tongs but you could also use plastic gloves (bottom right). We found that as the egg went into the water the underneath and sides were covered in paint and then as the egg was lifted out of the water the top became covered. Putting the egg down into the water and then moving it across to an area where nail polish still remained on the surface of the water ensured more coverage. You can re-dip if necessary.Nail polish marbling tutorial

6. We placed our marbled eggs onto an egg carton to dry. They did stick a little so I would probably try placing them onto baking paper next time.

7. Add more nail polish to the water surface and swirl with your skewer before dunking your next egg.

Aren’t they lovely!

Nail polish marbling how to

How are you decorating eggs this Easter?

2 Comments

  1. We tried this last year– yours came out way cuter than ours! This year, we’re sticking to shaving cream!

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